HCMC – The Vietnamese Government will spend VND62 trillion in relief aid for some 20 million people affected by the coronavirus, heard attendees at a meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee this morning, April 8.
Some VND36 trillion will come from the central State budget, VND13-14 trillion from city/provincial budgets, VND3 trillion from the Unemployment Insurance Fund and the rest from the central Government’s regular expenditures and other sources.
Beneficiaries of the relief package include poor people, workers forced to leave their jobs, people under social protection, suspended household businesses and the unemployed. Each of them will receive VND500,000 to VND1.8 million per month for a period of three months.
The relief aid package will also allow employers and employees to temporarily stop contributing to the retirement and mortality fund and allow businesses to borrow money from the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies to provide unemployment assistance to workers who were forced to leave their jobs.
Addressing the meeting, Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung noted that due to Covid-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, 19% of businesses in the country have suspended their operations. Some 98% of workers in the tourism and aviation sectors and 78% in the transport, footwear and clothing sectors are now unemployed or have temporarily left their jobs.
Some two million more people will lose their jobs in April and May. If the coronavirus situation worsens, the number could grow to 3.5 million people. Low-income people are the most vulnerable to the pandemic, according to Dung.
Speaking at the meeting, Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan stated that the package is evidence of the Government’s efforts to support citizens during the pandemic.
She asked the relevant agencies to ensure transparency in distributing the aid and to prevent corruption.
